Put a Ring on It: Men’s Edition

Shamrock’s homework this past week was rings & tuxes. (He was traveling, so he had a lot of free time in a hotel room in the evening.) I’m not a ring person, so this is my attempt to help him out with some info. I did the best I could, but I’m no ring expert!

My ring was pretty simple—my engagement ring is platinum from Tiffany, so we just need to choose a simple platinum band from Tiffany to match.

Shamrock does not wear any jewelry, so we were starting from scratch. Men’s rings definitely don’t have as much variety as women’s, but there are still choices. There’s the shape, and the comfort fit, and the inlay, and the metals.

Oh, the metals.

Image via Jewelry Secrets, which actually seems to have a lot of good ring info if you’re into that kind of thing

So what are our options?

PRECIOUS METALS (Fancy? These are the expensive ones. They’re also shinier and less reactive. Thanks, Wikipedia.)

Platinum: My ring is platinum, so we’d match. Platinum is very durable (it can scratch, but can be buffed shiny again) but also really expensive.

Palladium: Platinum’s cousin. Lots of similar properties, but lots cheaper. Similar appearance and durability.

Gold (white, rose, yellow): Shiny, can be re-sized. White gold rings are usually rhodium plated and can require re-plating. Can be polished, but you lose a little metal every time. Oh, and it’s a classic.

CONTEMPORARY METALS (Not”¦expensive? Also used in buildings?)

Tungsten: Shamrock is terrified of Tungsten. He heard it can’t be cut off, so if something happens to your hand they’ll cut off your finger instead. (You guys”¦he works with computers and networking”¦is someone going to throw a laptop? Cut off circulation with a cable?) Anyhow, that’s apparently a myth. It is very hard, but it’s also brittle—you can shatter it off (or, you know, drop it and shatter it). It is scratch resistant and very affordable.

Cobalt: Scratch-resistant and very strong, bright white color, can’t be resized. Mr. Bunting got a cobalt ring, and Mrs. Bunting wrote up a great overview of several metal types. (It’s way better than mine.)

Black Ceramic: Really light and very modern. Scratch resistant but can chip or break. I think it’s not super common for rings.

Titanium & Stainless Steel: Very affordable and very scratchable.

So what are we getting? I’m not sure. Men’s rings are a lot larger than women’s, so his ring would cost more than twice what mine would if we went with platinum. Our next step is to go try on some options, so he can also get an idea for what styles he likes.

What kind of ring did your mister choose? Anyone else’s SO terrified of losing a finger?

comments

I think my FI will be going with titanium, although my settings are platinum. He’s in construction and is a civil engineer by degree, he already has a stainless steel ring and the science nerd in him is very excited for a titanium ring 😛

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Heyva,
Guest
02/28/14 @ 5:08 pm

You’re forgetting silver!

Silver tarnishes if it’s not worn, but for a daily-use item, it’s perfect for a man’s ring. My husband was hesitant to get gold (he was afraid he’d lose the ring, and: yep! he lost ring #1 on our honeymoon), but he was alright with silver. It’s comparable in price to some of the non-precious metals, but is a metal traditionally used in jewelry and it looks great. It’s durable and classic.

@Miss Llama: We did check out a jeweler today and I asked about palladium. It seemed like it was less than half the price and he described it as a cousin of platinum. I asked why someone wouldn’t just get it and he said it’s a little more brittle and some jewelers don’t like working with it. So I guess it could crack? But I think much less easily than plenty of others just maybe more easily than platinum. But it seems like a solid option to me.

I have a platinum ring and my husband wanted one too, but the price was insane. He ended up with titanium, but said he might change it later on. It is sitll loose enough to not worry about too much. But I do still worry about it. We also work with computers and he takes it off while doing yardwork and anything heavy.